Missing Bedtime
by HepburnJunkie22
Summary: One thing leads to another and Helen ends up missing a very important engagement...


**_Hi guys! Please be kind when offering constructive advice, although this isn't my first foray into writing it is my first venture into this particular fandom. If all goes well and you enjoy it I have another story for Sanctuary already in mind :) Reviews are love...please take the time to let me know what you think, I would greatly appreciate it!_**

**_PS: I do not own any of these characters...I'm just playing :)_**

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Helen was tired and if she was being completely honest she was ready to pull her hair out. She had spent the latter half of the afternoon and well into the night trying to sort out the mess Barney and her Old Friend had made of the newest shipment of abnormals. For how experienced her two colleagues were, she still couldn't quite figure out how the mix up had occurred…it was a routine intake after all.

To make a long story short, her two closest friends had arrived in her office earlier that afternoon, just as she was getting ready to retrieve Ashley from school. The looks on their faces as well as their body language should have alerted her there was something amiss.

"Magnus," her Old Friend growled softly, "we have a problem."

"What is it?" she murmured distractedly, she was in the process of locating her jacket.

Barney leant against the side of her couch, hip cocked to the side and a scowl plastered on his face. He looked from Biggie to Magnus, waiting for her full and undivided attention before he launched into his tirade. Helen sensed eyes boring into her; sighing heavily she turned to face them, nodding imperceptively for them to go on. She perched o the edge of her desk, crossing her ankles delicately as her arms stretched out behind her.

"Well,' Barney started his voice loud and grating, "Our resident housing expert had the bright idea to house a toxin spewing lizard inside the same enclosure as our Minx."

Biggie bristled at the indignation in the other man's voice, "If I remember correctly the Minx were supposed to be moved to the other side of the Sanctuary?"

He looked towards Helen for clarification, who nodded her head in the affirmative.

"Now listen hear you walking carpet…."

They began to bicker and Helen essentially tuned them out, glancing nervously at the clock on her desk...that was until it started to get physical. When Barney pushed her Manservant, she saw it fit to intervene before the growling Bigfoot decided that the other man was less of a friend and more of a punching bag.

"Gentlemen," she intoned effectively stopping the argument, "as interesting as it is to listen to you two blather on, I do have a previous engagement."

Barney snorted, "Well that has officially gone out of the window!"

"Excuse me?" Helen raised her eyebrow.

"Magnus," her Old Friend placated watching as she folded her arms defensively over her chest, "the Minx are sick from the toxin and we can't locate the Lacerta."

She stared wide eyed at both men in front of her, dumfounded on how this could have happened, flabbergasted actually. She had left specific instructions, for both parties in all reality, had created deadlines…for all intents and purposes this was completely avoidable. She used the side of her hip to push her off the desk, beginning to pace back and forth, rubbing her temples frantically.

She finally came to a halt, hands on her hips staring down at her feet, the multicolored toes making her smile her thoughts returning to Ashley.

_ASHLEY!_

She heaved a heavy sigh and glanced at Barney then to Biggie.

"Fine," she relented "you and I will deal with this horrid habitat issue," nodding towards Barney.

Turning towards the Bigfoot, "Old Friend could you…?"

"Don't worry Magnus," he smiled slightly, "I will pick up Ashley."

She inclined her head slightly in thanks and then proceeded to turn to her Protégé, sweeping her hand in a grandiose gesture towards the door of her office, she indicated that he proceed her.

"After you sir," she drawled with an air of fake cheer.

She wasn't happy this was how she was going to be spending her afternoon; she had a plethora of other things her time would be better spent doing.

Although Barney knew better to believe this a courtesy, he knew he would be receiving a lecture about communication and teamwork from the Head of the Sanctuary Network. Not exactly his cup of tea but he understood the necessity and would endure her long-winded speech if it appeased her sense of standards and expectations.

As Biggie listened to her heels clicking across the room he heard her throw over her shoulder, "Wish us luck my friend!"

It seemed that the day would never end and before she knew it Helen had missed dinner and Ashley's bedtime completely. She hadn't gotten back from treating the Minx until around seven and per her orders an incident report would need to be filed incase further investigation was needed.

She rested her pen down on the paper and leant back in her chair, running her hands through her hair, gathering it in a bun at the nape of her neck. She looked towards the clock fleetingly, it was much later than she had surmised, much too late to still be up working on this report of all things.

_Maybe I shall look in on Ashley just to make sure…_

Just as she was about to turn off the lamp on her desk and make her way towards her personal rooms, a noise in the hall drew her attention. It sounded reminiscent of footsteps…too light to belong to her Manservant, but she couldn't place the stride. They sounded hesitant, almost afraid as they softly treaded in the direction of her office. She had an inkling of who it was but just in case she slowly pulled the middle drawer of her desk open to retrieve her firearm, releasing the safety as she went.

Standing cautiously from behind her desk she strode quietly and fluidly towards the door; the footsteps, she had noticed were no longer moving, as if the individual had stopped directly outside her study door. Her ears picked up on the subtle sound of something scraping against the wood repeatedly and she braced her self as she carefully reached for the handle. As her palm came into contact with solid wood, she quickly jerked the door open to reveal what she had expected.

There stood her five-year-old, hair in complete disarray from sleep and tears just behind her lashes. Her hair was the color Helen's once was, in the time of her youth and innocence, well before her acts with the source blood and the child in questions father. It shown in the soft lamps light a golden blonde, but unlike that of her mother's the child had blessedly straight hair.

Helen looked her child over quickly, searching for some sort of a physical ailment and when none seemed apparent she directed her gaze back to the sweet babe's face. Eyes that were such a striking blue stared back at her, magnified by the presence of tears and made to seem even more startling against the red rims of her eyelids.

Clutched in her tiny hands was the bear Helen herself had hand picked for her daughter before she was born. It had been a rather silly and spontaneous purchase that she found in a quaint baby boutique she had strolled into while in London on business. It had the softest fur she had ever felt and immediately knew that the child growing within her womb would cherish it as much as she adored it.

Her attention was drawn back to the blonde in front of her as she heard a soft whimper fall from her lips. Helen immediately discarded her firearm on the side table and sank to her knees in front of her child, opening her arms welcomingly. As Ashley nuzzled into her mother's chest, the older woman heard her say something that sent a stab of sorrow and worry straight to her heart.

"Mommy…I'm afraid." the toddler sniffled.

Helen gently scooped up Ashley against her chest, turning on her heel to settle them on couch by the fireplace. Rocking back and forth slowly, she tried to soothe her child as best she could, placing soft kisses to the crown of her head while whispering sweet words into her ears.

She felt her daughter burrow closer into her chest, the teddy squished between their bodies, sighing deeply as she felt her mother stroke her hair tenderly. No place ever provided more security for Ashley than her mother's arms and Helen wouldn't deny her that.

She lived in a strange world that most people never got to see; to say she was a privileged little girl was an understatement. She had many different friends, friends that were odd yes, but just as splendid; what little girl could say she had a house full of friends with special powers? One would think that with all the wonders and horrors presented to the toddler on a daily basis that she would be fearless, that nothing could stand in her way.

But Ashley's perspective was contrary to what everyone else around her believed. Yes she saw 'monsters,' as people would say although Helen hated to use that terminology, but she never feared them. Ashley understood the difference between the benign and the malevolent; she was an astoundingly good judge of character. She wasn't afraid of the other worldly looks some of the creatures possessed or their powers; to her it was just another part of her home. She accepted the creatures for what they were and understood that they did what they did because it was in their nature…sometimes they couldn't help it.

Still she was a child and as such she worried about things crawling beneath her bed. Even though she could converse with the abnormals and help her mother on her rounds, she was still a small child whose heart races at the thought of strolling around in the dark. The bedtime routine every night wasn't complete until Helen herself checked all the dark corners of Ashley's room. Perhaps it was Helen her self who put too much faith in Ashley, after all she was still so young…to expect her to be fearless was selfish on the older woman's part.

Stroking her locks affectionately one more time, Helen softly pushed on her daughter's shoulder urging her to sit up and look her in the eye.

"Whatever is the matter my Darling?" she questioned kindly.

The toddler's blue eyes connected with those of her mother, "I was just worried."

"Oh?" Helen inquired, "About anything in particular?"

Ashley looked down to her lap where her hands were busy stroking the teddy's fur, shrugging her shoulders slightly. Helen could sense that this wasn't going to be an easy conversation; if Ashley didn't want to discuss something…well then they would normally come back to the topic on a later date; tonight, though, she wouldn't be given that luxury.

Helen gripped the girl's chin and slowly raised it so that they had established eye contact once again. Leaning in slightly, the older woman place butterfly kisses along Ashley's cheeks ending with once last kiss to her button nose. The girl giggled slightly rewarding Helen with a wide and uninhibited smile, the one that made the bridge of her daughter's nose crinkle in an eerily familiar way.

"Now that's better," she cooed, "Talk to me Sweetheart."

Ashley stared at her mother, her sky blue eyes wide in her small face, tracks of tears freshly marring her cheeks.

"You didn't read my story tonight," her lip quivered, and Helen felt her heart sink.

No matter if she was on the other side of the world or just in a late meeting, they had always devised a way for her to read Ashley her beloved bedtime story. There had only been one time when Helen had been unable to fulfill her promise and that had involved an arduous and extensive stay in the medical wing.

Helen and her team had been tracking one very rare abnormal across the North American continent for weeks when suddenly it had been spotted near her Ontario Sanctuary. It was a race against the clock to arrive before it disappeared again or accidentally harmed someone, not that it was an aggressive species be any means but one never knew what to expect.

Well it appeared that the reptilian creature didn't take kindly to being captured or relocated for that matter, and when trying to calm the irate abnormal Helen had been in the wrong place at the wrong time as they say. The last thing she remembered was pushing Barney out of the way as the creature's robust tale violently connected with her upper torso, sending her across the room at an alarming speed. One emergency helicopter ride and several stitches later, she was nursing three broken ribs and a severe concussion, but as she always recognized she did come out of the ordeal with her life.

From what her Old Friend told her, Ashley had been absolutely inconsolable that night…and at the age of three Helen could fathom why. When he had brought her in the next day to see her mother, she had wept desperately as Helen gently soothed the child's terrified state with soft and loving words, reassuring her that she was indeed alright and would be better in no time. Ashley had refused to leave her mother's side and Biggie ended up having to set up a temporary bed in the hospital wing for not only Helen but her daughter as well. It was another month before she would be well enough for field work, but she accepted the down time and used it to quell the toddler's fears.

_Its no wonder she's so troubled. _

"Biggie did and then said you weren't," she looked thoughtful for a moment as she searched for the word, "obtainable."

"Oh my Love," Helen drawled, "I had some things that needed to be taken care of right away unfortunately."

Ashley continued as if her mother hadn't spoken, "And then I woke up…and my nightlight was off, Biggie always forgets about it," she finished with a slight pout.

The older woman chuckled to her self while nuzzling her daughter's nose with her own.

"Darling he tries, but not everyone is going to recall all the details of your bedtime…Mummy has had lots of practice," at this Ashley giggled.

"He can't do the voices in the story either, Mommy!" she announced excitedly, all pretense of worry forgotten.

"He doesn't?" Helen exclaimed in mock surprise, "And I suppose he fails to tuck your blankets in the correct way as well?"

"Yes!," Ashley shook her head vigorously; "He puts the princess one on first so you can't see it!"

"Well my goodness, we will just have to have a chat with our resident Bigfoot…maybe a lesson on blanket arranging is in order, hmmm?"

The little girl giggled as her mother's elegant fingers began to skim her sides, over her ribs and across her back, pulling her in closer to her chest. She watched as the toddler's eyes began to droop, her grip on the teddy becoming somewhat lax. The late hour and emotional outburst seeming to take a toll on the petite body, the tension visibly draining away.

Suddenly Ashley was overcome by a wave of fatigue, a yawn bubbling up from her chest and escaping through girl's lips. A look of bewilderment crossed her as she connected eyes with Helen, trying to figure out where the action had come from.

Gathering her daughter close, encouraging the girl to rest her head softly on her shoulder, the brunette strode towards her office door. Slowly shifting Ashley in her arms, Helen turned off the light with a flick of her wrist, slipping through the doorway as it fell into darkness. As she strode towards her personal quarters, which housed her and Ashley's rooms, she felt calmed by the resonant click of her heels on the hardwood floors and the steady breathing of her Angel in her arms.


End file.
